Use of a surfactant coacervate phase to extract trichloroethylene from water

At temperatures above the cloud point, aqueous nonionic surfactant solutions can separate into two phases: a surfactant-rich coacervate phase and a surfactant-dilute phase. Since the coacervate phase can be a concentrated micellar solution, organic solute tends to concentrate in the coacervate due to solubilization. In this study, up to 90% of trichloroethylene was shown to be extracted into the coacervate phase in one stage. Increasing temperature, surfactant concentration, and added NaCl concentration all improved the fraction of TCE extracted.